"Now, choose a Kazekage among yourselves to sign the treaty with me."
"But don't take too long. My patience is limited. If you make me impatient, that will be on you—and the consequences will be severe."
Above the scorched earth, heat waves rippled through the air.
Thousands of surviving Sunagakure ninja knelt on the ground, scarcely daring to breathe. The massive craters left behind by dozens of falling meteors were like permanent scars upon the ninja world, constantly reminding them that resistance meant death.
Uchiha Tobirama sat atop a relatively flat boulder, legs crossed, fingers lightly tapping against his knee.
"Time's up."
His indifferent voice spread across the entire area. "Who's in charge now? Step forward and sign."
The crowd stirred uneasily.
The Third Kazekage had been captured. Chiyo and Ebizo were dead. More than half of the council had been annihilated in the recent meteor strike.
Sunagakure was now a swarm of headless flies.
At last, a young man rose shakily to his feet.
Red hair. Eyes filled with fear—but also with a tragic resolve.
Rasa.
The future Fourth Kazekage.
At this moment, he was only an elite jōnin, but with Magnet Release: Gold Dust, he was already the strongest remaining combatant in Sunagakure.
Rasa took a deep breath, stepped across the rubble-strewn ground, approached Tobirama, and dropped heavily to both knees.
"Uchiha… no—Hokage-sama."
Rasa pressed his forehead into the dust, his voice hoarse. "I am Rasa, the highest-ranking jōnin currently in Sunagakure. On behalf of the Hidden Sand Village… I accept all terms."
He was not foolish.
Stepping forward now meant taking the blame.
That astronomical indemnity. That humiliating treaty.
Whoever signed it would be cursed for generations, branded a sinner in history.
But it had to be done.
If he refused, the god of slaughter in the sky would truly kill everyone left.
To preserve the last embers of Sunagakure—to let the women, children, and elders behind him live—he, Rasa, would bear this sin alone.
Tobirama glanced at him and casually tossed a scroll onto his face.
"You're sensible."
"Sign it. Leave your handprint."
Rasa opened the scroll with trembling hands. As he read the terms—enough to drain the Land of Wind for a century—his heart bled.
Yet he did not hesitate.
He bit his finger and pressed down his bloodstained handprint.
"Very good."
Tobirama retrieved the scroll and nodded in satisfaction.
"From today onward, you are the Fourth Kazekage. Remember—pay the protection fee on time every year. If you're short even one ryo, I'll come by and drop a meteor for fun."
"Yes… I understand." Rasa lowered his head in humiliation.
"All right. One last matter."
Tobirama stood up. His gaze swept past Rasa and locked precisely onto a woman standing near the back of the crowd—beautiful, dressed in a backless outfit, green-and-black hair swaying faintly.
Scorch Release Pakura.
The hero of the Hidden Sand Village. The strongest combatant besides Rasa himself.
Tobirama raised a finger. "That woman. I'm taking her."
Boom!
The words struck like thunder.
The Sunagakure ninja who had just begun to relax felt their hearts tighten once more.
Pakura?
She was the village's hero!
Pakura snapped her head up, disbelief and fury blazing in her eyes.
"In your dreams! I am a ninja of Sunagakure! I will never go to Konoha as your prisoner!"
She clenched her teeth as scorching chakra surged from her body.
Even in death, she would uphold the dignity of a warrior.
Tobirama didn't even glance at her. His eyes remained fixed on Rasa, still kneeling on the ground.
"Rasa. This is also part of the terms."
"Hand her over—or I kill everyone remaining here, then take her corpse with me."
"I'll give you three seconds."
"Three."
The air froze.
Rasa jerked his head up, looking at Pakura, his eyes filled with agony and torment.
On one side were comrades who had fought alongside him.
On the other were the lives of thousands—the future of Sunagakure itself.
"Two."
A dangerous light gathered at Tobirama's fingertips.
"I'll hand her over!!"
Rasa roared, as though he had aged ten years in an instant.
He turned his head away, unable to meet Pakura's gaze, and shouted, "Pakura! For the sake of the village… please sacrifice yourself!"
"What…?"
Pakura felt as if she had been struck by lightning, frozen in place.
She looked around.
The subordinates who once admired her, the villagers who once revered her, now gazed at her with pleading eyes.
"Lady Pakura… please, just go…"
"Yeah, if you sacrifice yourself, we can all live…"
"Don't drag us down with you…"
At that moment, Pakura's heart shattered.
More completely than the earth crushed by the meteors moments ago.
Fear? Anger?
No.
What filled her was the icy chill of betrayal.
This was the village she had fought to protect?
This was the Kazekage she was meant to follow?
Faced with absolute violence, she was treated like cargo—discarded without hesitation.
"Heh… hehe…"
Pakura let out a bitter laugh as the chakra around her dissipated.
She looked at Rasa, her eyes hollow and lifeless. "Good, Rasa. Very well done."
"I'll go."
"From this moment on, I, Pakura, am completely severed from Sunagakure."
Tobirama watched the scene with a playful smile.
This was human nature.
Only by utterly crushing Pakura's faith in Sunagakure could this blade truly belong to him.
"Come here."
He beckoned.
Pakura walked toward him like an empty shell.
Tobirama wrapped an arm around her slender waist and placed his other hand on Rasa's shoulder.
"Work hard, Fourth Kazekage. And remember—don't think about revenge, unless you want to witness the Third Great Ninja War… no, the extermination of Sunagakure."
Swish!
Golden light flashed.
Flying Thunder God activated.
The two vanished instantly.
Only Rasa remained, kneeling in the desert, roaring in powerless fury at the empty sky.
…
Konoha. Tobirama's private residence.
A luxurious estate with its own courtyard, located in the heart of the village.
Golden light flashed again as Tobirama appeared in the living room with Pakura.
She stumbled, then steadied herself.
Looking around at the unfamiliar yet warm surroundings, confusion flickered in her eyes before turning into vigilance.
"If you're going to kill me, do it. Don't try to humiliate me."
Though her heart was dead, her pride as a Scorch Release user remained.
Tobirama removed his divine robe, tossed it onto the sofa, retrieved a bottle of chilled milk from the refrigerator, and took a sip.
"Kill you?"
He glanced at Pakura, his gaze brazenly sweeping over her long, wild, beautiful legs.
"What a waste that would be. From today onward, you are no longer some Sunagakure hero—nor Scorch Release Pakura."
"You are my personal maid."
"M–maid?!"
Pakura's eyes widened, her face instantly flushing with shame and fury.
"A warrior may be killed, but not humiliated! I'd rather die!"
"Die?"
Tobirama stepped forward, pinched her chin, and forced her to meet his Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.
"Your life was sold to me by the Hidden Sand Village. You may die if you wish—but every time you do, I'll kill a thousand Sunagakure villagers to keep you company."
"If you don't believe me, try it."
Pakura trembled violently.
Staring into eyes that seemed to contain hell itself, she knew he meant every word.
A man who could summon falling meteors—what wouldn't he do?
Hatred surged within her, but it was drowned by an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
Even the right to die had been taken from her.
"…I understand."
She bit her lip, tears welling, and finally lowered her proud head.
"Master."
"Too quiet. I can't hear you."
"Master…"
"That's a good girl."
Tobirama released her, smiling in satisfaction.
Taming a thorny rose like this gave him an exquisite sense of conquest.
Just then—
"Tobirama-sensei! You're back!"
A clear, lively child's voice echoed from the second floor.
A small figure rushed downstairs.
Blue-purple hair. A paper flower adorning her head.
Konan.
She wore the clothes Tobirama had chosen for her, looking like a delicate porcelain doll.
The moment she saw him, her eyes lit up. She ran over and hugged his leg.
"Sensei, Sensei! Look!"
Eagerly, Konan extended her small hand.
Chakra surged as a simple white sheet of paper came alive, folding and transforming until it became a lifelike paper crane.
The crane flapped its wings, wobbling into the air as it circled Tobirama.
"I figured it out myself! Isn't it amazing?"
She tilted her face up, clearly begging for praise.
Pakura, standing to the side, was stunned.
Moments ago, this man had been colder than a demon god—yet now, his eyes were… gentle?
Tobirama reached out and patted Konan's head, a genuine smile on his lips.
"Not bad. You're very talented."
"But your chakra control isn't precise enough, and the paper lacks hardness."
"Ah…" Konan pouted, a little disappointed. "Then what should I do?"
"Don't worry. Sensei will teach you."
Tobirama crouched and extended a finger.
"Konan, watch carefully. Paper is not just paper. You must infuse it with chakra—make it harder than steel and lighter than wind."
He tapped lightly.
The paper crane flared with light, instantly breaking apart into countless sharp fragments that formed a long sword midair, then scattered again, blooming into a paper lotus.
"Wow!!"
Konan's eyes sparkled with adoration.
"I want to learn! Teach me, Sensei!"
"Alright. I'll teach you slowly."
Tobirama stood and glanced at Pakura, who was standing stiffly like a statue.
"You. Pakura."
His voice turned cold once more.
"Yes… Master." She answered awkwardly.
"Go to the Medical Department. Find Tsunade. Tell her I'm back and ask her to come over for dinner tonight."
He pointed toward the door.
"Don't think about running. You carry my Flying Thunder God mark—no matter where you go, I can retrieve you instantly. And… think about the Hidden Sand Village."
Pakura stiffened, the light in her eyes fading.
"Yes. I'll go."
Watching her lonely figure leave, Konan tugged curiously at Tobirama's sleeve.
"Sensei, who is that big sister? She looks so sad."
Tobirama picked Konan up and walked toward the second floor.
"Just someone who got lost."
"Never mind her. Come—Sensei will teach you the core principles of this technique: the Dance of Paper…"
Inside the house, the lights were warm.
Outside, Pakura walked through Konoha's bustling streets. Laughter filled the air around her, yet her heart was utterly desolate.
Only one sentence echoed within her mind:
The joys and sorrows of people are not shared. I only find them noisy.